On the morning of January 25, 2008, in Las Vegas, Nevada, a fire occurred at the Monte Carlo Hotel & Casino, a 32-story, fire resistive construction (Type 1) building. The fire, apparently started by workers on the roof area, spread over the upper portions of the south and west tower walls, which were clad in EIFS. Wind helped to spread the fire laterally over the exterior wall surfaces for approximately 170 feet! Flaming droplets or pieces of decorative polystyrene foam insulation ignited the façade materials on the horizontal cornice between the 28th and the 29th floors. Samples of the exterior façade taken from the fire area for laboratory qualitative analysis revealed that the EIFS did not have the correct thickness of lamina (finish coat, base coat, and reinforcing mesh). Additionally, large components not covered with EIFS lamina, containing significant thicknesses of polystyrene foam, were installed on the claddings.
At the incident, fire department officials ordered media helicopters to stay clear of the hotel; they were worried that the turbulence from the blades would fan the flames and further spread the fire. Firefighters took elevators to within two and four floors of the fire and carried their folded hose lengths the last two and four floors to the roof. Not all of the fire area could be reached by hose streams from the roof. Guest room windows were deliberately broken to get a better vantage point. Firefighters on the nozzle, leaning precariously out of windows, were kept safe by fellow members and webbing. For more than an hour, the fire continued to spread both horizontally and vertically across the exterior cladding until it was finally brought under control (photo 6).
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